Miners at South African gold producer Gold Fields ended their strike on Friday. However, similar strikes at other gold and platinum producers show no signs of ending. The government has called on the miners to return to work, and has said that they will increase investment/ Companies are threatening to fire any workers who continue to strike in an effort to reopen the mines. Gold Fields said that it would fire 11,000 workers if they did not return. About 15,000 miners have been fired at other mines, but most are likely to be re-hired when the mines reopen. A typical miners supports about 8-10 other people on their salary.
See "Gold Fields mine strikes ends in South Africa", Sherilee Lakmidas, Reuters, October 18, 2012